Snap fastener



July 8, 1924.- 1,500,389

G. A. HOLMES SNAP FASTENER Filed April 26 1921 Inventor eorge .11 Hal-n1es flay.

Patented July 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. HOLMES, OF NEWTON CENTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T UNITEDSTATES FASTENER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SNAP FASTENER. 7

Application filed April 26, 1921. Serial No. 484,521.

T 0 all whom it 'IIZlZj/ concern:

Be it known that I. GEORGE A. HOLMES,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newton Center. in thecounty of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts. have invented anImprovement in Snap Fasteners, of which the following description, in

' connection with the accompanying drawing,

is a specification, like reference characters on the drawing designatinglike parts.

This invention relates to a stud and socket fastener of the kindcommonly known as snap fasteners, and consists in a novel constructionof the socket member,

The fastener is of the kind in which the socket is the resilient member,having an expansible mouth through which the head of the stud may becrowded, and the construction of the socket proper is such that theresilient contractibility' of the mouth may be utilized in combinationwith a body portion which serves as the medium by which the socket isattached to the fabric, or portion of the material to be fastened byengagement of the socket with the stud.

The fastener shown as an illustration of this invention is suitable forfastening a rug or carpet to the floor, or for fastening a vehiclecurtain to the body of the vehicle, or, by a modification of the meansfor atpiachment of the stud, to another curtain Fig. 1, is aplan or faceview of a snap fastener socket member, as seen looking into the mouth ofthe socket;

Fig. 2, a transverse section thereof on an enlarged scale; and

Fig. 3, a side elevation of a stud member suitable for co-operation withsaid socket, on the same scale as in Fig. 2.

The socket proper 2 is in the form of a shallow cup having its sidessplit or cut as shown at 3 so as to make the walls around the mouth ofthe socket, that is,'the open end of the cup, capable of movement in theradial direction by the springing of the material, to co-operate with asuitable stud 20 (see Fig, 3) in the usual manner as is well known andneeds no further explanation.

The side walls of the socket cup converge from the base or closed endtowards the month. which is surrounded by a relatively thick lip asshown at 5 which may be made by folding back the metal around the mouthas shown.

Thus the mouth entrance is rounded. which facilitates the entrance ofthe stud head, and the inside diameter of the lip is considerably lessthan the outside diameter. which latter is about equal to the externaldiameter of the base at 6.

The body component of the socket memher which may serve as the mediumfor attachment to the fabric or part to be fastened, is shown as in theform of a concavo convex annulus 7 the central opening 8 of which issomewhat smaller than the external dimension of the lip 5 and of thebase at 6 but larger than the side of the cup between the lip 5 and base6 as appears in Fig. 2.

The socket proper may be assembled with the body 7 by crowding the lip 5through the opening 8 from above as seen in Fig. 2,

, the mouth being compressed and contracted in this operation like astud member in the usual operation of a snap fastener having a resilientstud to co-operate with a rigid socket.

The cuts 3 which provide for the resilient action of the socket mouthterminate below the enlarged part of the base at 6 so that the latter issubstantially unyielding and cannot be forced through the opening 8 inthe body 7 and there is nothing under the conditions incident to usewhich would tend to force the mouth of the socket back through theopening 8 to separate the socket 2 from the body 7,

The body 7 is shown in Fig. 1, as being provided with holes 9 by use ofwhich it may be sewn to a fabric or which may receive prongs from afastener passed through the fabric from the other side.

The socket piece 2 is shown as also provided with an aperture 4 in theclosed end which may be utilized to secure the socket to a fabric byengagement with the stem of an eyelet passed through the fabric from theother side.

The opening 8 in the body piece 7 while being small enough effectivelytoconfine the socket, is large enough to afford adequate space for theexpansion of the socket mouth in the operation of-introducing andremoving the'head of the stud 20 in the customary use of the fastener.

The socket piece 2 normally operates like the usual resilient socket orfemale member of the fastener, yielding outward or being expanded by theentrance of the stud 20,

' but in its co-operation with the body piece it operates like the usualresilient male member or stud, being contracted in passing through theopening 8 of said body piece 5 and then expanding by its own resilienceto retain ,it securely fastened therein. 7

I claim A socket member of a snap fastener consisting of a cup shapedsocket piece the side 10 walls of which are convergent from the closedtoward the open end of the cup and terminate in an outwardly convexmouth,

the external diameter of which is approximately the same as that of thebase of the cup, the said side walls and mouth being split and adaptedto ield inwardly or outwardly, combined wit a body piece having anopening of smaller diameter than' the external diameter of the socketmouth and adapted to be assembled with the socket piece by crowding themouth of the socket piece through the opening of the body piece.

GEORGE A. HOLMES.

